Today, I’m going to take a look at what has changed for some power plays around the league after the first two weeks of the season. I am going to focus on personnel changes that involve two players being swapped, not ones caused by injuries, unless the injury is long term. I’ll talk about how it changes the value for each player and whether I expect this to hold going forward, or whether I think it’s a matter of time until it changes back. Let’s get to it!
BUFFALO SABRES – Josh Doan on, Alex Tuch off
Despite Dahlin and Thompson off to slow starts, the Sabres power play turned it around with Benson coming back from injury, and Doan taking Tuch’s place. Doan had fantastic power play numbers with Utah last season, and while the sample size is small in Buffalo, it’s beginning to look like he was a factor in that and not a product of the system. Doan has been fantastic so far with over three shots per game and six points in seven games. He also played almost 19 minutes last night as he has established himself on the second line with Tuch and McLeod. Doan is on the fringe with a lean towards holding. Even without the PP time, I’m still holding Tuch. He’s playing 20 minutes per night. It just moves him towards a bottom end hold.
CAROLINA HURRICANES – Jackson Blake on, Andrei Svechnikov off
Blake has registered two power play points so far which gives him a good chance of keeping this spot. He’s averaging almost four shots per game right now, so even with his minutes being only okay for a second liner, he’s an elite streamer. Meanwhile, Svech is on the fourth line playing less than 14 minutes in eachof their last four games. He also has zero points in six games. I don’t have him anywhere, but at this point, I wouldn’t hold in 10’ers. In 12’ers, it’s close, but I still lean towards cutting him.
COLORADO AVALANCHE – Victor Olofsson on, Artturi Lehkonen off
This one is notable, but also very unlikely to last unless Olofsson gets on a real hot streak. Olofsson is a fantastic power play player due to his lethal shot, but does the top unit in Colorado really need that? Olofsson is a solid streamer in the mean time, but there are three forwards on the second unit (Landeskog, Big Val, Lehkonen) that can easily take the spot of Olofsson or Nelson. Only MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas are locks there. As far as Lehkonen’s value goes, it doesn’t help, but I still lean towards bottom end hold for Lehkonen. I just want the share of a player on MacKinnon’s line.
DALLAS STARS – Miro Heiskanen on, Thomas Harley off
My expectation is that these two flip flop a handful of times throughout the season. Heiskanen’s shot rate is back up, which is encouraging. However, he only has two points in six games. On the other hand, Harley has six points in six games, but he only has four shots on goal in six games. That is abysmal. At the end of the day, I’m very high on Harley and lower on Heiskanen, so
FLORIDA PANTHERS – Anton Lundell on, Aaron Ekblad off
It took long enough, but Florida finally abandoned the two defenseman look on the top unit. Lundell has had success on the second unit before moving up, and is a bottom end hold for me everywhere. Same story for Ekblad even without the PP1 time, although it’s a bit more tenuous now.
LOS ANGELES KINGS – Corey Perry on with Anze Kopitar out
This is notable because the Kings have elected to keep five forwards on the top unit. It is downright hilarious how much their coaching staff refuses to let Clarke cook. Perry is a bottom end streamer no matter what his role is. At this point, as much as it pains me, I think we have to cut Clarke. It doesn’t matter what I think about him, it’s about his role, and I don’t see him producing enough. They’re too busy letting Ceci and Dumoulin get caved to let Clarke see real minutes. I haven’t had any interest in Doughty in years and still don’t.
MONTREAL CANADIENS – Ivan Demidov on, Zachary Bolduc off
Demidov was on the top unit to start the season, but it didn’t last long. However, Demidov keeps flashing and St. Louis put him back on the top unit Thursday. At some point, Demidov has to get the minutes he deserves. The Montreal depth isn’t good, and he is standing out on a regular basis. It’s not great right now outside of assists, but I’m stubbornly holding for the upside. This knocks Bolduc down to a middling streamer.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS – Matthew Schaefer on, Tony DeAngelo off
Schaefer has been nothing short of incredible in the early going. I didn’t expect him to play this well from the beginning. It generally takes some time for defenseman to find their way, let alone was that was two weeks away from being a 2026 draft player instead of 2025. Needless to say, he’s a hold everywhere. DeAngelo only has one point, has no PIM, and is a minus player again. He’s an easy pass now.
ST. LOUIS BLUES – Dylan Holloway on, Jimmy Snuggerud off
This spot has changed twice already, with Snuggerud and Neighbours both getting time on the top unit before Holloway. While he didn’t have a point on the goal, the Blues top unit did have a power play goal tonight, which makes it likely Holloway keeps the spot for a bit. That said, he’s really struggled so far. I see him more as an elite streamer for the time being unless you really need the hits. Snuggerud is a step below that.
UTAH MAMMOTH – Logan Cooley on, Barrett Hayton off
This was the obvious move from the beginning, for some reason, Cooley was on the second unit to start. It is always best to load up the top unit, and right now, that unit is unstoppable. They had two more power play goals on Tuesday, and with this, there’s a real chance that Cooley is a top 50 players this season. Hayton is still with Keller and Schmaltz at even strength, but he has only six shots in six games. He’s a bottom end to middling streamer.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS – Shea Theodore on with Mark Stone out
Stone went on LTIR which is the least shocking development of the season. The big news here is that they didn’t go with Barbashev or Karlsson to keep five forwards, but instead put Theodore back out there. Theodore was very good on the power play last season and should be again. It’s been a rough start for Theodore, but I expect him to get back to a D2 in 12’ers again sooner than later.
That’s all for now guys. Since I’ll be traveling on Sunday night and won’t have time to write, I’m going to get ahead of things by posting my first hold/stream list of the season on Monday morning. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
